So here it is… the final blog post, but that does not mean this is the conclusion to my journey to safe driving. This scholarship opportunity has really opened my eyes to how I have been driving the past few months and that I really need to pay attention to other drivers as much as I’m paying attention to my own driving. (Especially since I live in a heavily populated tourist town)
Driving home from college for the holidays has made me realize that I have made so many improvements and here is a brief discussion of them.
1. Eating and driving
So when I started this scholarship entry this was the main improvement I wanted to work on. I can proudly say that I DO NOT eat chick-fil-a fries any more while driving… Well I don’t eat anything while driving anymore but the fries were the hardest obstacle to overcome. I have recently noticed that my life has just been non stop lately and eating in the car on the way to places just seemed like it saved me so much time but in reality, its so dangerous.
2. Texting and driving
This one was a quick fix for me as I have never really been so easily distracted by texting and driving. Don’t get me wrong, when something that I thought was “important” such as what time Sally wanted everyone to come over to her house to watch the new bachelor episode, I made sure to answer the text as soon as I got to a red light. Now, after doing all of this research, I have realized that it can wait. It is most definitely not that important. According enddd.org, text messaging increases the risk of crash or near-crash by 23 times. That is a huge increase of risk that I am not willing to be affected by just to read a text message or to type one out. Like they say… IT CAN WAIT.
3. Music in the car
If you have been keeping up with my other blog post you know that this is the one I have been struggling with the most. I have an addiction to music and driving is normally the time I get to be alone and listen to my favorite songs and to jam as hard as I can with no judgement. But in reality, that is not what driving is for. I can proudly say that I don’t change the music while I am driving as much as I used to and now I wait until I am at a red light to do it. There is still more room for improvement when it comes to changing songs but I have stopped jamming like crazy.I still turn the music up basically as loud as it can go, BUT I don’t dance like a maniac. So like I said earlier, just because this is my last post, it does not mean this is the end of my safe driving journey.
4. Freaking out on other (annoying) drivers.
I am not the one to have any type of road rage at all but my roommate does. I have been trying to not drive as much as I have been terrified from my car accident back in August so she has been offering to drive me places. The only problem with that is that her road rage, angry yelling, and arm swinging was rubbing off on me. THANKFULLY, because of this, I gave myself a reality check. There is absolutely no need to freak out on other drivers. So what they cut you off… what is screaming at them in your own car going to do?? They can’t even hear you. I have realized that this has just become a distraction for me and I have started to put an end to it.
The minute I got to Georgia I did realize the amount of people texting and driving did go down drastically which obviously is a great thing for driving in GA but it kind of upsets me that it isn’t like that every where. Georgia has a no phone in hand (or on your body) law and they have been taking it very seriously with fining people and putting points on licenses. “Violators face a $50 fine for first conviction; $100 for second; and $150 for third and subsequent convictions.” https://www.al.com/news/2018/07/georgias_new_hands-free_cell_p.html I remember the day that this law started, everyone went to Best Buy and Walmart to buy a mount for their phones to use when driving. I personally love this law and wish more states would use it as it helps prevent so many accidents. Georgia is actually only the 16th state to have this type of law.
Over all, this scholarship opertunity has opened my eyes to how I have been driving and I am thankful for that. I strongly encourage you to take the safe drivers pledge. https://www.gjel.com/scholarship
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Hope you enjoyed reading my blog post!
Jordan's Journey to Safe Driving 